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FILE - In this Nov. 28, 2017, file photo, Allentown Mayor Ed Pawlowski, who is facing corruption charges, walks to the federal courthouse in Philadelphia during a break in a pretrial hearing. Pawlowski was convicted Thursday, March 2, 2018, of selling his office to campaign donors, a verdict that will force the Democrat from office. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Pawlowski was found guilty Thursday night of 47 of 54 charges against him. The verdict forces him from office and ends his 12 years in office as chief executive of Pennsylvania's third largest city.

Spencer and co-defendant Rebecca Acosta, former Reading School Board president, were indicted in August in bribery and pay-to-play schemes. James Hickey, a third co-defendant who was indicted with Spencer and Acosta, struck a plea deal with prosecutors in December. Acosta's trial also is scheduled in May.

"Every case is different," Sodomsky said. "Negotiating (with prosecutors) may get a little more difficult, but it also gives the defense a chance to see the government's case and how they plan to pursue it.

"You've seen the government play their hand. You essentially have game film you can study as to how the government will present its case."

Sodomsky said a major benefit is the defense has a chance to talk to jurors on the Pawlowski case, if they are willing, then run the information they glean from those interviews past mock juries or focus groups. The other thing to consider is that the 12 jurors in the Pawlowski case are not necessarily the opinion leaders for the entire federal eastern district of Pennsylvania, he said.

"It's a huge pool of jurors they're pulling from," Sodomsky said.

Sodomsky also said people who read and hear about the Pawlowski conviction will most likely be excluded from the Spencer panel so any prejudice will not seep into a prospective Spencer panel's decision-making.

Spencer is accused in two schemes.

In the first, investigators said, he paid an $1,800 bribe to Acosta for her campaign for a district judge seat. In return, her husband, then-City Council President Francis G. Acosta, was to work to eliminate city limits on campaign contributions.

Francis Acosta pleaded guilty to the scheme and was sentenced to two years in a federal prison.

Spencer's second scheme involved soliciting campaign contributions from businesses in exchange for an inside track to winning bids on city contracts, prosecutors allege.

Spencer has maintained his innocence.

Along with the bribe from Spencer, Rebecca Acosta is accused of receiving campaign contributions through Hickey in exchange for inside information about an $11 million Reading School District contract.

James M. Polyak, another Reading criminal defense attorney who specializes in federal cases, said the fact patterns in the Allentown and Reading cases are entirely different.

"Spencer's dealings in Reading had nothing to do with Pawlowski's dealings in Allentown," Polyak said.

Polyak declined further comment because he represents Hickey.

Meanwhile, federal prosecutors urged Pawlowski to resign immediately.

"He couldn't serve the people before, he can't serve the people after he's been convicted, and a jury has spoken and he is facing many, many years in jail," U.S. Attorney Louis Lappen said Friday at a news conference in Philadelphia. "He needs to get his affairs in order and address his criminal situation and leave the city in the hands of somebody who's not corrupted."

Pawlowski, who was re-elected to a fourth term while under indictment, is required by state law and the city charter to forfeit his office.

His lawyer, Jack McMahon, said no decision has been made about when that might happen.

The conviction is a "devastating blow" to Pawlowski, who continues to maintain his innocence, McMahon said.

"He totally believes he never did anything wrong," he said. "This is a guy that I've come to know pretty well, and he's a pretty good guy. I've been around a lot of crooks in my life and this is not one that I feel that way about."